Cathode ray tubes and particularly cathode ray tubes employed in color television receivers are subjected to high voltages which cause occasional arcing between the component parts within the tube. Also, the increasing use of cathode ray tubes with narrow neck portions with increased levels of applied potential results in arcing due to undesired dirt, burrs, and sharp edges. This arcing causes surges of excessive energy which is conducted by way of the tube pins and socket terminals to other components of the television receiver. Obviously, the components of an ordinary television receiver are not designed to withstand such excessive energy whereupon undesired and often catastrophic damage is incurred.
Numerous techniques have been employed in an effort to protect the components connected to the cathode ray tube from the application of undesired excessive energy due to arcing within the tube. For example, a number of prior art structures suggest arc gaps wherein spaced metal conductors are affixed to a layer of insulating material to provide an "arc" gap but not an "air" gap. Unfortunately, the arc energy carbonizes the insulating material which, in turn, becomes conductive and destroys the desired arc-gap.
In another known structure, a socket having metal inserts for receiving the circular pins of a cathode ray tube employs a metal conductor spaced from the metal inserts to provide an arc gap. Although such structures have been and still are employed with some degree of success, it has been found that they do leave something to be desired. More specifically, such structures require tolerances in fabricating the inserts and these tolerances undesirably affect the desired spark gap spacing. Moreover, most of the known structures are relatively expensive of materials and fabrication processing which is, of course, undesirable.